Zero Burn Coalition

Join us in celebrating the life, legacy, and lasting impact of Karen Clark through music, stories, art, and community. The reception will include free food by community caterers.

September 18, 2026
Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Community Reception with free food from Community caterers 4:00–6:30 PM

Celebration of Life: 7:00 PM

The event is free and open to everyone. Please RSVP using the “Reserve a Spot” button to help us plan for food and security.

karenclarkmemorial.eventbrite.com

For those unable to attend in person, the memorial will also be livestreamed. You need to RSVP to get the link for livestreaming. Accessibility services, including ASL and multilingual interpretation, will be available.
Please arrive before the memorial begins, as late entry will not be permitted once the program starts.
We hope you’ll join us as we remember and celebrate Karen.

(on behalf of the Core planning team
Aileen Sanches, Peg Thomas, Scott Dibble, Janet Dahlem, James Gottfried)

Instead of accountability for the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, the federal government is trying to intimidate the unions, immigrant rights groups, and faith communities who stood up for our neighbors this winter. Some of our own coalition partners are among those targeted. We stand in full solidarity with all facing this targeting.

We will not be intimidated. We will not be divided. We keep us safe!

Community, Check out this homeownership class on Thursday 8/13! Building Plenty Foundation and ZBC member Jordan Area Community Council. teach you how to build credit and move from renting to owning.

Thu Aug 13, 5:30-7pm, JACC, 2126 W Broadway Ave. Free food. See comments to RSVP:

Zero Burn Coalition is proud to endorse the Twin Cities Solidarity Picnic. This Saturday, August 8, 3:30-8:30pm at Boom Island Park. Come stop by our table!

Speaking Out Collective has been hosting storytelling sessions with Twin Cities young people about what’s wrong with the HERC garbage burner, and what’s right about alternatives like composting. As part of these workshops, the kids wrote postcards to Hennepin County commissioners. This is one of their letters. Learn about actions you can take to help close the trash burner at zeroburncoalition.org.

We stand with DNC workers at Target Field! Don't order concessions at the Noah Kahan show! And join the picket line if you're able.

Follow Unite Here! Local 17 for more updates.

ICYMI: Star Tribune Readers Write - July 24, 2026:

The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) incinerator is still burning the county’s trash while our state is on fire.

The climate emergency is no longer distant or abstract. It is here, making Minnesota summers increasingly dangerous and uninhabitable for all. Last week, Minneapolis ranked as having the worst air quality in the world. Yet Hennepin County commissioners are not taking action to shut down a massive facility directly polluting our state’s air.

As fires burn rampant in northern Minnesota and Canada, shouldn’t our elected officials be doing everything they can to protect our air?

If you are willing to ignore the horrific public health, environmental and climate impacts, burning trash is much easier than doing the real work to divert and reduce waste through composting, recycling and reuse systems (steps that both Zero Waste USA and the county itself have outlined).

Hennepin County’s refusal to hold the vote needed to close the burner tells us that it considers these sacrifices, concentrated in north Minneapolis, acceptable in order to maintain the status quo.

Our state is on fire. If our elected officials aren’t willing to do their jobs now, then when?

Leah Dunlevy, Minneapolis

Huge congratulations to the East Side community members who fought Northern Iron and won, alongside Climate Justice Committee. This is what community power looks like.

Communities across Minnesota are done being forced to breathe polluted air so corporations can profit or bureaucrats block change. From Northern Iron to the HERC trash burner in Minneapolis, we're proving that organized people can shut down polluters and win cleaner air for our neighborhoods.

"It's been amazing to see a community, so deeply bonded through love and an unwavering vision for the future, make change like this," said Leslie Myint, Saint Paul resident and Policy and Research Director at MNEJT. "The waves that you've made will keep rippling. We've seen them, felt them, and are carrying them with us."

When we fight, we win. Let's keep going until every community can breathe free.